Sterilization and decontamination methods are used in a broad range of applications, and have used an equally broad range of sterilization agents. As used herein the term “sterilization” refers to the inactivation of all bio-contamination, especially on inanimate objects. The term “disinfectant” refers to the inactivation of organisms considered pathogenic.
Sterilization/decontamination systems rely on maintaining certain process parameters in order to achieve a target sterility or decontamination assurance level. For hydrogen peroxide vapor sterilization/decontamination systems, those parameters include the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide vapor, the degree of saturation, the temperature and pressure and the exposure time. By controlling these parameters, the desired sterility assurance levels can be successfully obtained while avoiding condensation of the hydrogen peroxide due to vapor saturation.
Because of the potential for degradation of the sterilant, monitoring the hydrogen peroxide concentration within a sterilization or decontamination chamber is important to ascertain whether sufficient sterilant concentration is maintained long enough to effect sterilization of objects within the chamber. In this respect, it is desirable that measurements of the concentration of a sterilant or decontaminant be made in real time as a sterilization process proceeds.
The present invention provides a sensor for detecting the concentrations of a sterilant or decontaminant.